Leadership is like playing sports. The leader is the Captain and he has to get everyone to play the game. He has to ensure:
# All the members work toward the same goal.
# Everyone contributes and everyone matters.You are only as best as your weakest link.
# Avoid selfishness that will impede success. On a team you must support and assist each other. Don’t try to lead when out of form.
# To follow your best player, at the right moments.
The centipede is a symbol of teamwork. It has 100 legs that symbolize the people. If they don’t move together, the organization cannot go forward. If one of the 100 legs stops to think why it should follow the other 99, the centipede would surely get confused, entangled in its own movements and stop moving.
The question I have is, ‘should the captain get his team to play together and motivate them to move in one direction?’ Or ‘should the team members blindly follow what others are doing, irrespective of whether it will take them towards their goal?’. I would go with the first presumption, which means I can’t complain if the followers don’t support me in my aim. I as the leader would be compelled to make the team follow me and make them work like the ‘centipede’.
Suren Rajakarier/ Leadership 